AAAS staff members taught young boat-builders about buoyancy and density on the South Lawn of the White House.

National innovation and competitiveness depends on a steady supply of engineers, but women and minorities remain underrepresented in undergraduate engineering classrooms. A new study of undergraduate engineering students in the United States shows gender and ethnicity differences in how comfortable students feel in engineering classrooms and suggests strategies that may improve the dearth of women and minorities in engineering.